Adsorption of pharmaceuticals into beta zeolites

Since many drugs resist conventional treatment, other strategies are needed. Several methods have been reported for degrading emerging organic contaminants. In addition to nanofiltration and reverse osmosis, other techniques including ozonation and chemical oxidation have been identified in successfully treating organic contaminants in water. The latter processes can lead to the formation of oxidation intermediates which are, to date, mostly unknown. In adsorption technology, inorganic adsorbents are often employed since they offer advantages due to their stability towards the radioactive and thermal treatments which are necessary to induce the complete degradation of adsorbates and, therefore, the regeneration of exhausted adsorbents. Among inorganic adsorbents, it has been proven that zeolites are efficient in removing small organic compounds from the environmental matrix, as has surfactantmodified zeolite (SMZ) in removing volatile organic compounds like benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX). This study has a dual purpose: i) to measure the sorption capacity of hydrophobic commercial zeolite materials for drugs dissolved in water and to quantify aspects of their removal efficiency for potential use in wastewater and groundwater remediation, and ii) to understand zeolite compositional features for the adsorption of drugs in aqueous solutions. Coupling the information gathered from these approaches can help in selecting adsorbent materials for water treatment